Tessera

Finished. An interesting, useful 'manifesto' on the importance of safeguarding and developing one's attention in a world seeking to frack it for commercial and political profit.

Engrossing rumination by @robertwrighter.bsky.social on AI's perils & potentials & larger meanings. I don't know enough about AI yet to agree 100% w/its arguments, it is full of useful ideas & promising paths. The exploration of 'cognitive sovereignty' alone is worth the time spent reading it

Gordon Gray @ambgordongray.bsky.social · last mo.

Finished. Interesting, informative book from @profaliceroberts.bsky.social on the history of domestication of dogs, wheat, cattle, corn, potatoes, chickens, rice, horses, apples, and man itself. A fascinating story.

High praise - and totally merited - from another Iran expert. This book is a must-read if you're interested in what is happening in the Middle East today. @azodiac83.bsky.social @imes-gw.bsky.social

Alan Eyre@alaneyre.bsky.social · last mo.

A balanced, detailed & authoritative coverage of the Iranian nuclear issue. It is especially good for including Iranian viewpoints and reasonings behind its nuclear policies. I've been working on Iran for decades & there is much it taught me. Essential reading for the Iran policy crowd.

Michael E. Mann @michaelemann.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I went on @NewsHour tonight to talk w/@IAmAmnaNawaz about the possibilities of US-Iran agreement on an MOU and what lay beyond. @MiddleEastInst www.pbs.org/video/war-wi...

PBS News Hour | Mideast experts assess potential U.S.-Iran agreement | Season 2026

'Close doesn't count': Mideast experts assess potential U.S.-Iran agreement

pbs.org

Was Secretary Wright under oath? Because he's lying. Here's the state of the underlying scientific understanding via @aaas.org / @sciline.org : www.sciline.org/climate/clim... www.sciline.org/climate/clim...

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2mo ago

MENEFEE: It's your argument that hurricanes and floods in this country and across the globe are not getting worse? CHRIS WRIGHT: That's correct. That's what the data shows

Finished. Fascinating exploration & explanation of the philosophical differences between two great post-Enlightenment political theorists Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine. While I'm not firmly in either camp, I'm surprised that I find Burke's arguments more appealing than Paine's.

Finished. Although some examples are dated, still a passionate, convincing promotion of science, with its interlinked virtues of reason and skepticism, as mankind's best way to understand and interact with the world.

Finished. Wow. An authoritative, fascinating & thought provoking contemplation of the contemporary history of the Soviet Dissident movement. With a twin focus on both key personalities and historical flows, it gives the poignant backstory to the book's title.

Finished. Fascinating examination of how regulatory/pricing changes in the middle-third of the 18th century led to an explosion of private correspondance among increasingly mobile Americans.

Alli Marshall @allimarshall.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Excellent explanation of how capitalism's ascendency is a contingent (and recent) historical development. Mattei also shows the class underpinnings of the system's putatively scientific rationalizations, its negation of democracy, and how mass inequality and popular suffering is a feature not a bug.

I appreciated @alaneyre.bsky.social's interview with Rosemary Barton in mid-April. Rosemary asked if #47's war on Iran with Israel was an "error". Mr. Eyre said no it's not an error, it's a "colossal strategic blunder." The Guardian's Rebecca Shaw clocked this all in her Jan 2025 headline.

I knew one day I’d have to watch powerful men burn the world down – I just didn’t expect them to be such losers | Rebecca Shaw

Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg’s desperation to be cool as they suck up to Donald Trump is so cringe it makes my skin crawl

theguardian.com

I talked w/@OmarJimenez about how neither Iran nor the US is ready to negotiate in earnest. Iran thinks the US is bent on toppling the regime, and the US thinks that more military attacks will cause Iran to accept US demands. @MiddleEastInst www.cnn.com/2026/05/11/u...

Ceasefire with Iran is on ‘massive life support,’ Trump says | CNN

CNN’s Omar Jimenez discusses the latest updates on Iran with former State Department official Alan Eyre.

cnn.com

I talked this morning w/@EugeneDaniels2, @JaxAlemany & @lbarronlopez on @MSNOWNews about how far away we are from a negotiated end to this #IranWar @MiddleEastInst www.ms.now/the-weekend/...

‘Trying to bludgeon reality with words’: Trump calls new strikes on Iran ‘just a love tap’

Friday, Central Command said U.S. military forces carried out airstrikes hitting and disabling two Iranian-flagged oil tankers trying to break the American naval blockade. The President told ABC News'...

ms.now

Finished. A short book/quick read, this is a polemic in the best sense of the word, illustrating the extreme wealth inequalities in the US and the disasterous political consequences = living in an oligarchy. The 99 percent have already lost a class war it didn't even know was being fought.

Such an impressive/informative book ! It details the contemporary history of the USG using its economic & commercial primacy as a means of 'economic warfare'. It shows how tactical success in 'war-fighting' rarely translates into achieving our strategic objectives.

US and Iran launch new attacks as they wrestle for control of Gulf waters - www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...

US and Iran launch new attacks as they wrestle for control of Gulf waters

Iran's unified command told commercial ships and oil tankers to refrain from any movement that was not coordinated with Iran's military.

reuters.com

I went on TRT yesterday to talk about the possibility of a 2nd round of negotiations and the associated obstacles. @MiddleEastInst www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz5x...

Trump says he wants deal with Iran to be everlasting

YouTube video by TRT World Now

youtube.com

I had the pleasure of appearing tonight on @CNN_360 w/Beth Sanner & @brett_mcgurk to talk w/@andersoncooper about the (possible) upcoming round of negotiations & the difficulties of getting any sort of agreement.@MiddleEastInst next.frame.io/share/1d0834...

100 Block- Beth Sanner, Brett McGurk, Alan Eyre-Anderson Cooper 360-2026-04-24.mp4 - 100 Block- Beth Sanner, Brett McGurk, Alan Eyre-Anderson Cooper 360-2026-04-24 - Frame.io

next.frame.io

I went on @CNBC last night to talk about the negotiation-escalation knife edge we're currently on. @MiddleEastInst youtube.com/watch?si=OO_x-XtDZQa26fm1&v=eSOhhpGxjxI&feature=youtu.be

The U.S. team negotiating with Iran is 'out of their league' and uninterested in diplomacy: Expert

YouTube video by CNBC International Live

youtube.com

I had a great time today talking with @danielbenaim and @ShaibZeina of @MiddleEastInst about where we are re negotiations vs. escalation in the #IranWar. BLUF: I am cautiously pessimistic. Middle East Institute mei.edu/events/a-fai...

A Failure to Communicate: Stalled Talks and Next Steps for the US and Iran - Middle East Institute

mei.edu

What a thrill to be sharing an @andersoncooper @CNN_360 interview with Ambassador Ryan Crocker, who is a LEGEND among U.S. diplomats. We talked about the blockade, and prospects for negotiations. @MiddleEastInst next.frame.io/share/03e4f0...

Crocker & Eyre-Anderson Cooper 360-2026-04-13.mp4 - Crocker & Eyre-Anderson Cooper 360-2026-04-13 - Frame.io

next.frame.io

Crocker & Eyre-Anderson Cooper 360-2026-04-13.mp4 - Crocker & Eyre-Anderson Cooper 360-2026-04-13 - Frame.io

next.frame.io

excellent biography & what a life! Vaudeville, radio, televsion, movies...he dominated them all: the #1 20th century entertainer. Committed himself to entertaining US troops in every military conflict from WWII onwards. Not much on the inner man, but perhaps cuz Hope was not one for introspection